Valentine's Day is always one of my favorite holidays, and I always loved giving special Valentine packages to my ChiefHubby and our kids. I think it's even more special now that we are married 38 years this July- making this our 40th Valentines Day together! While I've pretty much stopped the packages with our kids (and the ChiefHubby and I don't need more reasons to have chocolate, lol), I'm tickled pink to be able to carry on the tradition with our Grandbabies!
This year, our 2nd as Florida Snowbirds, we hoped to have one set - or both sets- of our kids to fly down for a week. The younger set are just now getting settled into their new house (finally closed last week) in Upstate New York, and it will be awhile before they are able to head anywhere for an extended vacation. And with the new baby coming this Fall, we'll be doing the most travel up to them instead. The older set had the opportunity to get away and bring our oldest 2 Grandbabies for Peanut's 2nd flight to Florida, and Princess's 1st.The ocean has always been my dream place. I was obsessed with water and swimming and dreamed of walking for miles along tropical sandy beaches. I saw it for the first time when I was 21. While I never really got to go anywhere (except to Missouri to my Great Grandpa Raymer's farm) until I was 18 and married, it's worth the wait to see things for the first time through your own kids' eyes. That made my first visit to Florida's Pacific side as a new Mommy at age 25 truly magical. It's even more special to share your Happy Place with your GRANDCHILDREN! As of now, that's 2 done and 2 more to share it with yet. Since the 2 older babies adore- and have plenty of experience with- chickens, they were excited to play with the seagulls. Memaw showed them how to hold up the Dorito chip and wait for the birds to swoop it away. The weather finally made the turn for Spring and their last day here was beautiful and full of fun. Baby Pecan will really love the ocean as much as his older cousins did over Valentine's Day, and I am looking forward to that time!
Which brings me to this new Challenge on The Funkie Junkie Boutique's For the Love of Mixed Media. Laura's got this one and she's challenging us to "create a mixed media project about/for someone or something you love". It was easy-peasy for me since I was already in planning mode to make some kind of package to put the kids' Valentine candy in. So I came up with a neat idea after realizing that between our 4 Grandbabies (including the one in-utero!), they have traveled a combined 11 States and 1 other country in just the past month! Last summer, I was bummed out that our Grandbabies were just seeing "wavy water" for the first time because of Covid19. This year; they start off BIG with traveling! Jamie is up on Lake Ontario, with his Aunt just across the water in Canada. The way there is around Niagra Falls, so he got to go to another country already to visit his older Cousins on his Mommy's side. Like the rest of the world, I am so over Covid19 already! The thought of kids getting back to having LIFE again makes me feel like there's hope out there yet!
Mixed Media is the creation of an item using 2 or more different types of materials. I chose paper, ribbon/string/ and Distress Inks to make simple gift boxes for holding Valentine candy treats.
So let's dig in and see how it's done!
These are the items I needed to divide up and have a box to fit it all inside.
Don't be fooled: those PEZ holders can be pretty large when it's in that plastic!
I wanted to capitalize on how many places they each traveled to/through, and
a mode of transportation that made me think of each child.
I picked up a clearance item on an odd trip (can't even remember where) and
already had in mind to use Tim Holtz's Destinations 12 x 12 pad.
Life in Florida during the winter months has proven to be just as busy as any time spent down here during the summer months. And while we've been coming to this state for over 30 years now, it still has lessons to teach us. One of the biggest lessons we've learned now: fleas are very abundant here. And even while this has been the duration of coldest temps for some time (dripping with sarcasm: aren't we so lucky?), the sand and fleas apparently still thrive in it. Not so up in Indiana, and while our choice of discontinuing the flea drop medications since the death of our precious BudderCup kitty back in 2018, it never crossed our minds what our Besties do for their numerous FurryKids in this climate. We know NOW; the hard way. Poor puppy pi, Hunni Pi has suffered her first "hot spots" of her lifetime, and it has NOT been a fun learning curve. But thanks to the awesome Faithful Friends Animal Clinic, who called Hunni's Dr back
home in Indiana, they got her on track once again and she is on her way back to healthy! They set us up with everything: from shampoo to Rx meds and even furniture/carpet spray- to get rid of this menace. And, she's now on chewable flea meds- seeming not to have any sensitivity on her stomach with it- the way most Chesapeake Bay Retrievers are with lots of things. Wearing the "Cone of Shame" has been another new experience...imagine, if you can... bumping into every single thing in her path and basically being so MOPEY about it that she gets away with simply being told "don't lick!" which she does obey pretty well anyway. So that took a bit of energy and fun out of the week for all of us. Because of all of this, her first trip to any beaches has been put off for now,
Getting into this new couple of challenges was pretty easy- I'd had this in my mind ever since I saw another person's version of the Tim Holtz octopus stamp with watch pieces, sometime in the past month. I wanted to try the stringed theme, but with a slight twist to it. I've told about the three kitties who have come into our lives to claim us as theirs, and I figured that I'd give them their due with this make. The TFJB Challenge #3 "Groundhog Day" is about repeating; repeating patterns, colors, shapes, whatever is chosen must be repeated as in the movie of said title, where the day keeps repeating itself. And then, Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge "Love or Hearts" seemed to work out perfectly along the same idea I had. All I needed, was for the "kitties" to all go along with the plan- lol.
As for the big day of love itself; we'll be out on a 2 hour catamaran ocean cruise- sailing a reach before the following seas... of the Emerald Coast! As a sailor myself, I am excited for the trip, and the ChiefHubby really surprised me with the reservations on the 76-person boat! (COVID19 regulations apply as well as my own 'bubble-wrap' medical situation; details will be TBA since we also need to wait on the weather for the Valentine's Day Cruise). In the meantime; I may have stumbled on another version of sailing which might be easier than finding and towing another sailboat; it's called kite sailing:
Looks like FUN to me!!
Moving on: the above TFJB Challenge of "repeating" made me think that's actually correct when you think of it: having kids is just repeating yourself and then repeating AGAIN when the kids have Grands! Those three tiny "Repeats" are our pride and joy! We already sent out packages in the mail for little Valentine surprises of their own. In the meantime- they are all thought of during this make.
The Oldest "Repeat Repeater"
The Princess "Repeater"
The Youngest Repeat "Repeater"- both his Parents are also Youngest of all.
